BMW to hire thousands of permanent staff: report

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - BMW (BMWG.DE) plans to hire thousands of permanent staff after cutting the number of its temporary workers by half, a German magazine reported on Saturday.

The logo of German car manufacturer BMW is seen on the bonnet of a vehicle covered with water drops in Kiev March 27, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

BMW’s management has struck an agreement with the company’s works council that will see the number of temporary workers fall to around 6,000 from about 12,000 currently, Wirtschaftswoche magazine reported in an article released ahead of publication on Monday.

At the same time, BMW would offer permanent positions to thousands of workers, many of whom are expected to come from the current pool of temporary staff, the magazine added.

The share of temporary workers in BMW’s labor force would therefore fall to around 8-10 percent from 17 percent, the magazine said, citing sources involved in the talks.

“The negotiations over a new employment contract have not yet ended but have progressed very far,” the magazine quoted a BMW spokesman as saying.

“An agreement in the coming weeks is very likely,” he added.

Car makers and other manufacturers in Germany have relied heavily on temporary and short-term contract workers in recent years to balance out swings in production and demand. (Reporting by Jonathan Gould; Editing by Sophie Walker)